IMiOPOSAT. TO IMPROVE THE PRKSENT 



rHE DISTRICT OF noiJIM HI A 



UKI'UUi III iilK 8KLECT COMMITTKK 



< ITI/I'INS' IlKHHKSKNTATlVr; I'OMMITTKK OK ONE HUNDHKH 



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f 

' PROPOSAL TO IMPROVE THE PRESENT 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT 

FOR 

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE 

TO THE 

CITIZENS' REPRESKNTATIVE COMMITTEE OF ONE HUNDRED, 

FEBRXJARY 14, 1888. 



The Select Committee on the Address of the President of 
the Citizens' Representative Committee of One Hundred have 
carefully considered the matters contained therein, and present 
the following 

REPORT. 

It was understood bj your Committee that the principal 
question presented in the address invited a consideration of 
the existing form of our Local Government, and the propriety 
of attempting to improve the same. 

It has been thought that this question could not be pre- 
sented properly, on account of the complex relations of the 
Local Government toward Congi'ess, the People of the United 
States, and our own citizens, witliout at least a brief historical 
sketcli of the inception, successive phase of development, and 
present condition of the entire territory which includes the 
Capital proper and is known as the District of Columbia. 

This sketch becomes important, because our National Capi- 
tal is peculiar in the respect that no well-known, long-estab- 



lislied, and historical city was selected, as in other countries, 
iti which city the Government became, and remained as a 
kind of large Corporation, with it^ personnel sul)ject to existing 
municipal rule like other citizens, but instead, a tract of land 
was selected where the Capital City could be established upon 
the virgin soil, and grow up on a pre-determined plan, and in 
which the Congress should be not merely the principal and 
dominating element, but should have supreme power of con- 
trol. As incident to this Capital City, surrounding territory 
was essential only as a matter of protection from hostile as- 
sault, and as affording esta1)lished towns where the comforts 
of life could be provided while the Capital City was being 
built. 

This sketch is also thought proper because, although the 
District of Columbia is politically less than one hundred years 
old, the memory of its early life is becoming so involved in ob- 
scurity and doubt that of late years men widely known in 
public affairs, and newspapers of commanding influence, have 
made statements respecting its governmental history whicli 
have f>btained large credit, without having proper foundation 
in fact. 

Birth of the District of Columbia. 

In October, 1783, the Congress of the Confederated States 
began to discuss the question of the site of the National Capi- 
tal, and to take into consideration the many pecuniary and 
other inducements offered by various States and cities, and the 
advantages of twenty different localities which were proposed, 
and continued the discussion without residt until September, 
1788. 

The Congress of the United States, under the Constitution 
vvhich came into effect in 1789, took up the matter in May of 
that year, and settled in 1790 upon the location of a territory 
to contain the Capital on the banks of the Potomac river, 
within certain limits, as the result of a compromise effected by 



Hamilton and Jefferson, representing, respectively, the wishes 
of the Northern and Southern States. 

The Constitution had gone into effect the year before with 
the present provision among' the enumerated powers of Con- 
gress, viz : 

" To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever 
over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, 
by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, 
become the seat of government of the United States." 

Maryland had already, in 1788, authorized the cession of any 
district in the State, not exceeding ten miles squai-e, wliich 
Congress might accept, and Virginia in 1789 had ceded any 
district witliin that State, not exceeding ten miles square, 
which Congress might accept, with the qualification, however, 
that the jurisdiction of the laws of the State over that portion 
ceded should not cease rtntil Congress had provided by law for 
the government thereof, under the proper provision of the 
Constitution. 

In pursuance of these acts of Maryland and Yirginia,Congress 
on July 16, 1790, authorized the President to appoint three 
Commissioners to locate a territory of ten miles square between 
the mouths of the Eastern Branch and the Conocheague, which 
is a l)ranch of tlie Potomac river above Harper's Ferry. 

This act of Julj^ 16, 1790, also provided that the operation 
of the laws of the respective ceding States should not be 
affected by the cession until tlie date of removal of the Gov- 
ernment thereto on the first Monday of December, 1800, "or 
until Congress shall otherwise by law provide." 

The boundaries first laid out by the Commissioners were not 
satisfactory, and Congress on March 3, 1791, amended the 
former act, and authorized a location — 

" below the Eastern Bi'anch, and above the mouth of Hunting 
Creek, so as to include a convenient part of the Eastern Branch 
and the lands lying on the lower side thereof, and also the town 
of Alexandria," — 



and a new location of the boundaries was made by the Com- 
missioners, which existed until the Virginia portion was re- 
ceded in 1846, and remains as to the boundaries of the portion 
ceded by Maryland, which has since that date constituted the 
District of Columbia. 

President Washington, by proclamation of March 30,1791, 
announced the lioundaries as finally settled by the Commis- 
sioners. 

On April 19, 1791, the President contracted Mith the prin- 
cipal owners of the land, upon which lie had determined to 
establish the Capital City, and these proprietors conveyed by 
deeds dated June 29, 1791, these lands to trustees, to be by 
them conveyed to the Commissioners, who had, under the act 
authorizing their appointment, the power to purchase or 
accept lands for the site of the Capital City within the Dis- 
trict, to make phins for the city subject to the approval of the 
President, and to provide public l)uildings. To defray such 
expenses the President was authorized and requested to accept 
grants of money. 

The territory designated for this site of the Capital had the 
little villages of Hamburgh and Carrollburgh upon it, and certain 
lot-owners in these villages, as well as a few other small pro- 
prietors, would not sell their lands, and so the State of Mary- 
land was called upon for legislation. Accordingly, Maryland, 
by act of December 19, 1791, ceded formally its part of the 
territory of Columbia as finally located, reserving jurisdiction 
of law ovei- the same " until Congress shall liy law provide for 
the government thereof in accordance with the provisions of 
the Constitution," and provided for the condemnation of the 
lands before mentioned, whose owners would not i>ell "from 
imbecility and other causes ;" for the recording of deeds within 
the ceded territory; for a mechanic's lien upon houses to be 
erected in the Capital City ; authorized the Cnnimissioners to 
make regulations concerning wharves, the building of houses, 
and the sale of spirituous liquors, and directed a loan of $72,000 
to be paid at once for the use of the new city. 



By the deed of the proprietors of the land the trustees were 
obliged to convey to the Comnaissioners for the nse of the 
United States, forever, all the streets, and such of the squares, 
parcels, and lots as the President should deem proper for the 
use of the United States. The residue of the lots were to be 
divided equally, one-half to the original proprietors, the other 
half to the United States, to ])e sold at such times and upon 
such terms as the President might direct, and tlie proceeds of 
the sales of the Government lots were to applied to the erec- 
tion of public buildings and the improvement of streets. Sub- 
sequently, by act of May 6, 1796, the remainder of the lots 
were to be sold for the payment of such lands as the Govern- 
ment reserved for public purposes. 

Even before the complete acquisition of the land for the 
Capital City it had been laid out in its principal features by 
L'Eufant, a French engineer, and the Commissioners began in 
October, 1791, to sell the public lots. L'Enfant went on and 
completed his plans, and Washington submitted the same to 
Congress on December 13, 1791. Subsequently, L'Enfant was 
dismissed, and Mr. EUicott completed, with some modifications, 
the plan for the City of Washington substantially as it now 
exists. 

Thus the year 1791 may be assigned as the date of the birth 
of the District of Columbia, as the territory had been acquired 
and designated, the City of Washington had been laid out and 
named, and money had been provided to some extent to com- 
mence the work of building. 

Building of the Capital City. 

The plan of the city was designed upon a magnificent scale. 
It covered 7,161 acres, divided as follows : 

Taken bv the Government, for streets, avenues and 

alleys!' • • . 3,604 a. 

Taken ])y the Government, for public reservations 

and buildino;s 541 " 



6 

Taken by the Government, 10,136 lots donated to the 

Government 1,508 a. 



Total taken by the Government 5,653 a. 

10,136 lots (conveyed to their original proprietors, 1,508 " 



7,161 a. 



It will be noticed that more than one-half of the entire area 
was to be used for streets, avenues and alleys — a proportion 
without parallel in other cities before or since. This was a 
free gift to the Government. The 541 acres taken for pul)lic 
reservations and buildings were to be paid for at the rate of 
$66.66 per acre, but as this land was paid for out of the pro- 
ceeds of the sales of lots which had been donated to the Gov- 
ernment, it will be seen that the Government paid nothing for 
five-sevenths of the entire area of the City of Washington. 

Upon this ample space the Government proposed a Capital 
City which should meet the wants and respond to the pride 
of the country for all time. 

The following, from the Philadelphia Herald of January, 
1Y95, indicates the popular sentiment of that day : 

" To found a city for the purpose of making it the depository 
of the acts of the Union, and the sanc^tuary of the laws which 
must one day rule all North America, is a grand and compre- 
hensive idea, which has already become with propriety the 
obje(;t of pul)lic respect. Tiie City of Washington, considered 
under sucli important points of view, could not be cah-ulated 
upon a small scale ; the disposition of its avenues and puldic 
squares should all be compared with the magnitude of the ob- 
jects for which it was intended, and we need only cast our 
eyes upon the situation and the plan of the city to recognize 
in them the comprehensive genius of the President, to whom 
the direction of the business has been committed by Con- 
gress." 

In a Senate report of later date, 1835, the following state- 
ment is made : 



" The District was the creation of the Union for its own 
purposes, the plan of which was formed by the public author- 
ities, the dimensions of the streets determined by them without 
intei'ference by the inhabitants or regard to tlieir particular 
convenience or interest — a plan calculated for the magniti- 
cent Capital of a great Nation, but oppressive from its very 
dimensions and arrangement to the inhabitants, if its execution 
to any considerable extent was thrown upon them." 

It was understood at the time the Capital City was planned 
that the General Government was to open and improve the 
streets, as is shown b}^ various acts of Congress, and by the 
correspondence of Washington and Jefferson with the Commis- 
sioners, it being supposed that from the proceeds of the sales 
of its city lots by the Government a fund would be raised 
sufficient for the erection of the public buildings and the im- 
provement of the streets, this fund being carried on the books 
of the Commissioners as the " City Fund." Washington, in a 
letter to the Commissioners of December 14, 1795, says : 
" When you are in a situation to begin the opening of the ave- 
nues, it is to bo presumed that those which will be more 
immediately useful will be first cleared." 

Jefferson writes to them August 1, 1801 : 

"I consider the creation of the representative chaml^er, and 
the making of a good gravel road from the new bridge on 
Rock Creek along Pennsylvania Avenue and New Jersey 
Avenue to the Eastern Branch, the most important objects for 
insuring the destinies of the city which can be undertaken." 

And in his message to Congress January 11, 1801, he speaks 
of the lots as being sufficient to meet certain demands and " in- 
sure a considerable surplus to the city to be employed for its 
improvement," and suggested that the sale of the lots be not 
forced beyond the demand for them, lest " the residuary interest 
of the city be entirely lost." 

The building of the city had gone forward but little when 
it was found that the sales of the Government lots, together 



8 

with tlie loan of ^72,000 from Maryland, wonld he insuffi- 
cient for the requirements. 

When Congress in 1790 had directed the Commissioners to 
have the Capitol, the President's house, and the Department 
buildings ready for occupancy in December, 1800, it had made 
no appropriation for that purpose. Under the authority to ac- 
cept loans, the President next received an additional sum of 
8120,000 from the State of Virginia. Still, this sum becoming 
exhausted. Congress, by act of May 6, 1796, authorized the 
Commissioners to borrow $300,000, and pledge the remaining 
city lots as security. 

The Commissioners were unable to borrow this amount, but 
finally succeeded in getting two hundred thousand dollars from 
the State of Mai-yland in United States six per cent, bonds at 
par upon the security formerly offered, and their own personal 
bonds for double the amount. These bonds were converted 
into money at tlie rate of 65 per cent., and netted $130,873.41; 
a most significant indication of the poverty of the country 
and the low estimate of the permanence of Republican institu- 
tions. These funds were not sufficient, and in February, 1800, 
850,000 more of bonds were borrowed by the Commissioners 
from the State of Marjdand, upon the same security as the 
previous bonds, and from the sale of these bonds the sum of 
$40,488.96 was realized. By means of all these sources of 
revenue the Commissioners managed to have the public build- 
ings in a greater or less degree of completion, and a city with 
some of the streets opened through the trees and over the 
swamps, and barely passable, when in 1800 the Government 
formally established its headquarters at Washington. 



The Future Government of the District of Columbia as 
understood at, and soon after, the adoption of the 
Constitution. 

The article of the Constitution referring to this particular 
was very general in its terms, and there were questions as to 



9 

the precise way in which Congress, if it saw tit, should or 
would exercise the power of " exclusive legislation." 

Madison's opinion of the meaning and mode of action of 
this article is found in the " Federalist," No. XLIII : 

" And as it is to be appropriated to this use with the con- 
sent of the States ceding it ; and the States will no doubt pro- 
vide in the compact for the rights and consent of the citizens 
inhabiting it ; as the inhabitants will jBnd sufficient induce- 
ments of interest to become willing parties to tiie cession ; as 
they will have had their voice in the election of tlie Govern- 
ment which is to exercise its authority over them ; as a muni- 
cipal legislature for local purposes derived from their own 
suffrages will, of course, l)e allowed them ; and as the authority 
of the legislature of the State and the inhabitants of the 
ceded part will be derived from the whole people of the State 
in their adoption of the Constitution, every imaginable objec- 
tion seems to be obviated." 

In February, 1803, resolutions providing for the retroces- 
sion of the District to its original States were discussed in 
Congress in Committee of the whole House. The reasons 
urged for retrocession were these : 

1. That exclusive jurisdiction is not necessary nor useful to 
the Government. 

2. That it deprived the inhabitants of the District of their 
political rights. 

3. That much of the time of Congress was spent in legis- 
lating for the District. 

4. That the government of the District is expensive. 

5. The incompetency of Congress to legislate for the Dis- 
trict, because its members are strangers to its local interests. 

6. This is an example of a government without repre- 
sentation. An experiment dangerous to the liberty of the 
States. 

The reasons urged in reply were these : 

1, That the usefulness and probable necessity of exclusive 



10 

jurisdiction might he inferred from the experience of the Con 
gress of tlie Confederation. 

2, That the District, when sufficiently populous, would have 
a representative in Congress, and in the meantime a local 
legislature. 

In this discussion many gentlemen of note took part, and 
extracts from their arguments are found i-eported as follows : 
Mr. Huger, of South Carolina: 

" He looked forward to the period when the inhabitants, 
from their number and riches, would be entitled to a repre- 
sentative on this floor. And with respect to their local con- 
cerns, when they grow more numerous and wealthy, there 
would be no dithculty in giving them a Territorial Legisla- 
ture." 

Mr. Dennis, of Maryland : 

" He thought the situation of Congress in relation to the 
people of the Territory was not sufficiently understood. He 
knew it was always troublesome to legislate for an}' people. 
He foresaw these inconveniences when they removed to this 
place. He had tliought tlien, and he thought now, that some 
legislative government must be provided for this District. In 
this opinion he had never varied, but had, from successive 
events, become more confirmed in its accuracy." 

Mr. Bacon, of Massachusetts: 

" But the words of the Constitution are not imperative ; 
they do not say that Congress shall exercise exclusive jurisdic- 
tion over the place tluis ceded by the States." 

Mr. Eustis, of Massaclnisetts : 

" He acknowledged tlie difficulties of legislating for the 
Territory. But it was a duty wliicli they could not forego 
until the government of the people was provided for in some 
other way ; and that, he thought, should be by an internal legis- 
lature. 



11 

Mr. Southard, of New Jersey : 

" Bat he looked to the time, as not far distant, when they 
would have the right of governing themselves through a ter- 
ritorial legislature." 

Mr. Randolph, of Virginia : 

" The terra slavery, sir, excites in the mind of men an odious 
idea. There are, however, species of tliis wretched condition. 
Domestic slavery, of all others the most oppressive, which has 
been well defined to be that state in which any community is 
divested of the power of self-government, and regulated by law 
to which its assent is not required and may not be given. This 
species of government is an experiment how far freemen can 
be reconciled to live without rights ; an experiment dangerous 
to the liberties of these States. 

" To attempt to legislate for the District was in effect to 
constitute the chairman of the Committee, or at any rate the 
Committee itself on the affairs of the Territory, the Solon or 
Lycurgus of the place. It is well known that the indolence 
of other members or their indifference, inseparable from the 
situation in which tliey were placed, would prevent Congress 
from legislating with a full understanding of the objects be- 
fore them. He therefore thought it expedient to retrocede all 
the territory, except the City of Washington." 

" This disposition of the territory would leave entirely un- 
touched the question which arose from tlie interest of individ- 
uals who had made purchases of property under the faith that 
Congress would retain the jurisdiction. It is probable that, 
in such event, a corporation might 1)6 estal)lished in the city 
that would answer the ends of the Government, without two- 
thirds of the time of the National Legislature being con- 
sumed." 

Congress gave a practical construction to the articles of the 
Constitution l)y rejecting tlie resolution of recjession and by 
making no change in the government for the City of Washing- 
ton established the year before. 



12 



Local Governments Provided by Congress. 

Congress had to meet the question of the government of 
the District as soon as it got fairly settled in its new quarters. 
EveiTthing had been going along in the same sort of fashion 
for ten years, from the date of the acceptance of tlie territory 
until that time. The District eml)raced tlie city of Alexan- 
dria, organized as such in 1748, and Georgetown, organized 
in 1789, ea('li with the usual charter and an elective form of 
government. There were besides thi se the local governments of 
the counties of Montgomery and Prince George, which em- 
braced tlie pcjrtion of the territor}^ acquired from Maryland, 
and Fairfax, which included the Virginia portion of the Dis- 
tri<'t (tutside of Alexandria, and all tlie District was thus under 
the laws either of Maryland or of Virginia. 

Congress adopted and supplemented these laws by act of 
Febi'uary 27, 1801, by dividing the District into the counties 
of Alexandria and Washington; establishing a Circuit Court 
in the District, continuing the laws of Maryland and Virginia 
where they had existed; providing for Justices of the Peace 
to be appointed bj' the President; creating an Orphan's Court 
and Register of Wills in each count}'; and especially declining 
to alter, impeach, or impair the corporation rights of Alex- 
andria and Georgetown. 

Directly afterwards, on March 3, 1801, Congress passed a 
supplementary act giving the Circuit Court certain powers of 
appointment of officers before vested in the Levy Courts of 
Virginia and Maryland, and creating a new Levy Court for 
the County of Washington. 

The City of Washington was incorporated for two years, on 
May 3, 1802, with a charter providing for a Mayor to be 
appointed by the President, and a Council of two Chambers. 
The entire Council of twelve to be elected by free svhite tax- 
paying citizens of full age, and one Chamber to l)e elected by 
the whole body of Councilmen; and the Council had certain 
limited powers of local legislation. 



13 

In May, 1802, Congress abolished the Commissioners, and 
created instead a Superintendent appointed by the President, 
to have entire charge and control of the Government lands in 
the City of Washington, who has to this day substantially the 
same duties, and also enlarged the corporate powers of George- 
town, so as to include special taxes for certain purposes. 

In 1803 Congress fixed the salary of the Superintendent, 
and appropriated $50,000 for the repair of public buildings 
and the highway between the Capitol and other public build- 
ings. 

Some of the Representatives seem to have become wearied 
at the legislation called for in behalf of the District, and at 
the next session the resolutions for recession before referred to 
were introduced. After the failure of these, an effort seems 
to have been made, in the way of relief, by the enlargement 
of the charters of the District cities. 

In 1804 Congress amended the charter of Alexandria, 
especially in the qualifications of tlie voters for municipal ofii- 
cers, who should be free white males of full age, freeholders 
and taxpayers; and in 1805 amended the charter of George- 
town, making all free tax-paying white men of full age voters 
for all municipal otticers. 

In 180i the charter of Washington was continued for fifteen 
years longer, with an increase in the number of the Council 
to eighteen, and enlarging considerably the scope of the legis- 
lative functions. 

By act of May 4, 1812, the charter of Wasliington was 
further changed, with enlarged powers of legislation in the 
Council, and by act of May 5, 1820, it was still further ex- 
tended, with increased powers of legislation, the Mayor being 
then made elective. In 1846 the Virginia portion of the Dis- 
trict was ceded back to its original State. 

Referring to the local governments thus established, Story, 
in his Commentaries on the Constitution, says : 

'• In point of fact, the corporations of the three cities within 



14 

tlicir limits possess and exercise a delegated power of legislation 
under their charters, granted l)y Congress, to the full extent 
of their municipal wants, without any constitutional scruple 
or surmise of doubt." 



Territorial Government. 

This form of municipal government for Washington City 
and the Georgetown and County Levy Court organizations 
continued until the act of February 21, 1871, when all were 
abolisiied, and a territorial government established, with a 
Governor, Secretary, Board of Health, a Board of Pul)lic 
Works, and a Council of elev^en members constituting one 
branch of the legislature, all appointed by the President and 
confirmed by the Senate, and a delegate to Congress and a 
lower branch of the legislature of twenty-two members elected 
by manhood suffrage, practicaly urdimited. 

In this new form of government the Board of Public 
Works, of whom the Governor was President, had almost ex- 
clusive executive and large legislative powers in the way of 
municipal regulations, with certain powers of assessment of 
taxes and disl)ursenient of moneys, and the legislative assem- 
bly had certain limited legislative pt)wers. 
^ Thus it would seem that the power " to exercise exclusive 
legislation in all cases " over tlie District of Columbia was 
given to Congress in the constitution for the purpose of estab- 
lishing beyond question the sovereign right of the general 
government to protect and maintain itself in its capital ; that 
it was not made the duty of Congress to use this power, and it 
was not intended tiiat Congress should use it, i)eyond the extent 
necessary to ac(^omplish the purposes named ; and that from 
1802 to 1871, the practical manner in which Congress did 
exercise its exclusive power was to enti-ust the control, of the 
District largely to its voters, a mayor being the executive, and 
a council the legislative branch of its cities. 



15 

How the Trust was Executed by the People. 

Daring this period of actual self-government the cities of 
Washington and Georgetown and the County of Washington, 
contracted a debt of $3,105,067.85, which was tlie entire en- 
cumbrance when the Government assumed the territorial form. 

Prior to 1835, as appears by a report of the committee of 
the Senate, the citizens of the District had expended for local 
improvements the sum of .$430,000, and the United States the 
sum of $209,000 for similar purposes. At that date also, as 
appears from the some report, the property which had been 
given by the citizens to the United States was valued at about 
$2,500,000. 

In explanation, it should be stated that the general Govern- 
ment had in the beginning but a slender revenue, the gross 
income for the iirst two and three-fourths years being only 
$4,771,342.53, or about the amount it now receives in as many 
days ; while the inhabitants of the District, in their anxiety to 
help build up the Capital City, assumed burdens and incurred 
expenses " which," so says the Senate report, " did not appro- 
priately belong to them." 

Between the dates of 1835 and 1871, it is understood that 
the sums raised by citizens from taxation and expended upon 
local improvements were greatly in excess of the moneys appro- 
priated by Congress for the same purposes. 

In the war of 1812, the citizens of the District paid a direct 
tax of $20,000, and raised besides a voluntary fund of $5,000 
and placed it at the disposition of the President for the defence 
of the Capital. 

When the Capitol was I)urned by the English soldiers, the 
citizens of the District litted up a building for the use of Con- 
gress, the bankers of the District offered a loan of $500,000 
to rebuild the public buildings, and the President was author- 
ized by Congress to accept the same. 

For the late war the District paid a direct tax of $49,437.33, 
and the fifteen per cent, refunded to many of the States has 
never been refunded to the District. 



16 

Since 1862 the citizens of tlie District have paid $6,454,- 
907.03 in internal revenue taxes, or an average annually of 
a quarter of a million uf dollars. The amount of these taxes 
paid by (citizens of the District during the last fiscal year ex- 
ceeded the amount i)aid by either of the following seven States, 
nauiely: Alal)ama, Arkansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, 
South Carolina and Vermont. ■^'' 

During the vv^ar of 1812, and the war witli Mexico, the Dis- 
trict furnished its full share of soldiers. 

During the late war the District furnished its fiill quota of 
soldiers, and eighteen and a half per cent, in excess of the 
same, surpassing in that respect all but one of the States. 

Up to the date of the territorial government, the citizens 
had made commendable progress in the creation of puldic 
schools, of police, health, and fire departments, in sewerage, 
in opening and improving and lighting tlie streets, and had at 
all times manifested a proper degree of public spirit, guided by 
general intelligence. 

No Lands for District of Columbia Schools. 

It is, proper to add here, that the late war brought into the 
District great numbers of uneducated freedmen, for whom 
Congress compelled the District to open and maintain 
schools as largely as foi- the white children, as well as to 
educate the chihben of the great infiux of government em- 
ployes who paid no taxes iiere, and this, too, in face of the fact 
that not an acre was ever given to the District of the 90,000,000 
acres of public lands given to the States for educational pur- 
poses, or of the 155,000,000 acres of public lands given away 

♦District of Columbia .f 142, 172 10 

Alabama 78, 542 7ti 

Arkansas 97.G30 38 

Maine 50, 28G 45 

Mississippi 42,608 14 

Nevada 70,419 50 

South Carolina 100,146 85 

Vermont 30,11'.) 75 



17 

for railroads and internal improvements, and no part of the 
many acres called " swamp lands " given outright to the States ; 
and not a dollar of the ^28,000,000 divided in 1836 among 
the States came to the District of Columbia. 

Commissioner Government. 

The territorial form of government was al)olished by act of 
June 20, 18Y4, and a temporary form of government estab- 
lished in which, under certain limitations, all the executive and 
legislative functions which had been cxer<^ised by the territorial 
government were committed to three commissioners, to be ap- 
pointed at large by the President and confirmed by the Sen- 
ate. An engineer ofRcer of the army was to be detailed to have 
the oversight of engineering work, under tlie direction of the 
Commissioners. 

The reason commonly assigned for this change in the gov- 
ernment was that tlie Board of Public Works, wlio were ap- 
pointed by the President and paid by the United States, had 
incurred a large debt by extravagant and unauthorized expen- 
ditures, mainly, however, upon government property, viz : 
Streets, Avenues, and Sewers. This debt, thus created l)y offi- 
cers of the United States mainly upon propertyof the United 
Stat-es, amounted to about $25,000,000, althougli, as appears 
by a report of tlie Secretary of the Treasury in 1878, the citi- 
zens of the District had, reckoning from the l^eginning up to 
1878, paid about $20,000,000 in taxes and the United States 
had expended $6,000,000 in appropriations, all mainl)^ for the 
improvement of the property of the United States. The citi- 
zens had also raised and expended about §25,000,000 more for 
the support of the local government. 

The So-called District Debt. 

^ As already stated, the aggregate debt -created during the 
long period of popular self-government in the District, 1802 
to 1871, was $3,105,067.85. The present debt was created 



1.8 

under a different system. In the words of a Senate minority 
report in 1877 : 

V " At the end of six years only of a government irresponsi- 
ble to the people, the public debt amounts to s25,000,000 — 
m«'e than one-foin-th of the assessed valuation of the property 
of the District. Meanwhile, $13,000,000 have been assessed as 
special taxes (on the property ot tlie citizens), slO,000,000 have 
been assessed as general taxes (also on the prupei'ty of the citi- 
zens), and Congress has appropriated §6,000,000. Deducting the 
original indebtedness, we find the enormous sum of §50,000,000 
as the net expenditure of six years' govei-nment by officers 
' appointed by the President and contirmed by the Senate.' Of 
this vast sum, not less than $40,000,000 are chargeable to 
' improvements.' " 

And this does not include a foot of the 82 miles of asphalt 
pavement, nor the big boundary sewers, all of which have been 
constructed and paid for since. 

^ It will thus l)e seen that popular self-government is respon- 
sible for no part of this enormous debt — greater, it is believed, 
in proportion to population and means than that of any State 
or other municipality in the United States — except the origi- 
nal three millions, and the four million loan, or seven millions 
in all, as the people of the District had no voice in creating 
the balance of the debt. 

If the general Government were now to assume the pay- 
ment of the remainder of this del)t, amounting to S20,61'2.450, 
it would be doing no more than to equalize the amount ex- 
pended by it and the inhabitants of tlie District from the 
beginning. 

It now takes about one-third of the total ainnial revenues of 
the District to pay the interest and sinking fund on the debt, 
and this heavy drain not only cuts off much needed street im- 
provements but it restricts over eleven thousand school-children 
to half-day schools, for want of a sufficient mimber of school- 
houses. That is, one school-room has to be used for two 
schools, one school occupying it in the morning and the other 
in the evening. 



19 
The Present Government. 

Tlie local government was again changed hy act of June 
11, 1878, to its present form, tlie change being mainly in re- 
quiring two of the Commissioners to be residents, and the 
third Commissioner to be an officer of the Engineer Corps of 
the Army. 

At the same time the United States engaged to pay a pro 
portion of the expenses connected with the local government, 
commensurate with the value of its property as compared with 
the value of all other property, or practically one-half of the 
annual expense, and all moneys received were to be deposited 
in the Treasury of tlie United States, to be used onlj^ as ap- 
propriated by Congress, and all payments were to be paid by 
Treasury warrants. 

This was done because the peculiar character of the plan of 
the City of Washington and its relations to the General Gov- 
ernment were such that it would be impossible, as well as un- 
just, for the private property to pay the interest on the debt, 
and put and maintain the entire District of Columbia in such 
state of perfection as the natural pride of the country would 
demand. 

These Commissioners appoint all minor officers, have large 
legislative powers in the matter of municipal regulations, and 
full executive powers to carry out the same, and the people of 
the District have no power or voice in the matter, or in the 
selection of any officer, or in the valuation of their property, 
or in the taxation or expenditures of moneys paid by them, 
and their wants and wishes need not be consulted. 

Magnitude of the Work of the Commissioners. 

The District has a population of (estimated). . 250,000 

A valuation of property of $238,695,378 

Composed of real estate owned by citizens 111,744,830 

Personal property owned by citizens 10,943,458 

Property owned by the District 2,308,772 



20 

Property exempt from taxation 86,578,634 

Property owned by the U. S. (excluding streets 

and avenues) 107,119,684 

Total $238,695,378 

And this is exchisive of the personal propert}' owned by 
the United States, which amounts to a large sum. 

Amount paid bv citizens in taxes, licences, &c. 

for 1887.. ..". $2,374,914.53 

Total revenues disbursed in 1886-7 4,002,398.54 

It has public schools numbering 570 

Number of teachers in public schools 654 

Number of scholars enrolled 35,000 

It has of streets in miles 233 . 62 

Of which there are paved with concrete. 69.64 miles 

Paved with granite blocks 21.50 " 

Paved with cobble and broken stone. 12.73 " 

Macadamized 8.19 " 

Gravelled 36.66 " 

Old wood pavements 77 " 

Unimproved and jnostly unopened... 84.08 " 

Total 233.62 " 

Of country roads in miles 116 

A Fire Department of 7 steam fire-engines, 2 ladder trucks, 
8 hose reals, and a force of 101 paid men. A police force of 
325 officers and employes of different grades. In population 
it exceeds each of the Territories except Dakota, and the States 
of Oregon, Nevada and Delaware. 

In valuation of property it surpasses either of the States of 
Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, and Oregon. 

It comes then to this, that at the present time three gentle- 
men, one of them by education and previous employment quite 
unfitted for the performance of any duties except those con- 
nected witli engineering, are called upon to administer not 



21 

only the affairs of a rural V)ut well settled territory, con- 
taining suburban villages, but in addition the more com- 
plex and delicate demands of a large city with its various 
questions of schools, streets, sewers, water, health, police, pro- 
tection against fire, building and plumbing regulations, licences 
of all sorts, valuation and taxation of property, disbursement 
of moneys, appointment of officers, and, in addition to all these 
matters, the still more delicate and arduous duties connected 
with the alteration of municipal regulations and the framing 
of new ones. 

And all this in the show city of the country. 

Occupied as they are, these gentlemen are of necessity un- 
able to make themselves acquainted either with the wishes or 
the needs of the citizens at large, except as may be made 
known to them by employes anxious mainly to please their 
chiefs, or by self-constituted advisers who advise largely for 
personal advantage. 

The Present Form of Government is Wrong in Principle. 

^ The executive is a law maker in the District of Columbia. 

It is wrong in principle that the officers who execute the i 
laws should be the very persons who make the laws. 

Having the power to make the laws, the same persons have 
the power to unmake or waive them, or to decline or neglect 
to enforce them, and if need be to make and unmake them, 
and to change them every day, and are therefore above and 
superior to the law. If they make good laws the effect of them 
is mischievous, because of the uncertainty of their duration ; 
and any one who knows and relies upon the law of to-day can 
have no reliance that the law will be the same to-morrow, and 
therefore cannot know what he may or may not do ; and if 
they make bad laws, then, in addition to the feeling of uncer- 
tainty as to their duration, there is the sense of personal wrong 
and injury, and of oppression on the part of those to whom 
the laws apply. 



22 

It is fundamental to the constitution of society that the law 
should be settled and permanent in character, and not lightly 
or hastily chano;ed, or, indeed, changed at all, except when it 
becomes so obnoxious that there is a general demand for the 
change, or it ceases by common consent to ])e enforced or 
obeyed, and thus becomes obsolete. 

It is no answer to these propositions that tiie Commissioners 
only m-dke municipal regulations under certain limitations im- 
posed by Congress, the higher power. These very municipal 
regulations are the laws which touch the citizen most nearly, 
and are upon and around him all the time and affect his daily 
life and business and family. Neither is it an answer that 
these statements are fanciful, and that the Commissioners have 
not made and annulled regulations, or changed or waived them 
with or without previous notice. 

Your Committee asserts that it has been a well-known 
practice of the Commissioners to repeal old municipal regula- 
tions, to make new and different ones in place of them, to re- 
vive musty and obsolete ordinances, to change regulations 
directly after their pul)lication, and to waive or fail to enforce 
them in special cases, in fact, to make that which was law to- 
day no law to-morrow, and law again the day after, and to 
waive, if need be, tlie enforcement of the law. 

Your committee does not make these statements by \vay of 
censure of the Commissioners, but by way of complaint of the 
system, as it is certain that if the present incumbents are dis- 
placed by others, their successors, by reason simjdy of the faulty 
character of the form of local government, would act in pre- 
cisely the same way, and indeed could not be expecited to act 
in any other way. 

Tli(i pi 3sent form of local governnu is faulty in another 
respect, ' 

Allgovernments, tol)e justand stable, as we agree in this coun- 
try, nuist rest upon the unbought consent of the governed, and 
thus be in accord with their wishes and wants But in this 



23 

District the governed cannot make known their want of 
consent hj overturning the government and putting another 
in its place, as they can in every other portion of the United 
States. 

Here in this District the consent of the governed has never 
been asked, and many Senators and Representatives seem to 
have taken it for granted, that the few residents with whom 
they most frequently come in social contact represent the people 
who live here. 

Your Committee does not admit that those residents who 
appear to prize a reduction of their own taxes more highly 
than the right of self-government do represent the people of 
the District. Wai ving this matter of consent, as not obligatory 
upon Congress, it is still insisted, that the Commissioners have 
not had, do not have, and cannot have any special knowledge 
of the wishes or wants of the citizens. No l)lame is attached 
to them in this respect, because it is a fault simply of the form 
of government, and not of the Commissioners personally. 

Admit that they desire to know and conform as far as possi- 
ble to the wants and wishes of the citizens, they cannot do so. 

Indeed if they desire to do so they have no time in the 
pressing nature of their daily duties to gather, to any extent, 
from the citizens themselves, information of what ought to be 
done, and accordingly have to rely upon employes of their 
own, who ex officio have always roseate views of the perfec- 
tion of tiie present, or largely upon such persons as intend to 
make their advice valuable to themselves. 

Our local government is faulty in the number of its Com- 
missioners. ~ 

An executive should always be a single head to be most 
effective. If, in a |.' iiiravirate, one should have, -the most 
native force and vigc. ^nd will power, so as to dominate the 
others and thus be in reality the only head, this bad result fol- 
lows, that the two wlio are dominated do not understand their 
position and interfere mischievously with the ruling person, 
and are, theref ir.-. i the -ay, and are not needed. 



24 

The theory of tlie triumvirate originally was that being 
three, two of Hhem would l)e a majority ; but in practice it al- 
ways turns out that the strongest man of the three is the 
majority. 

The tiieorv of the triumvirate was, also, that the power 
would 1)e divided equally between three men, and each have 
his portion of the duties ; but practically it comes to this, 
that the doiiiinant man always takes chief direction of all the 
duties, as citizens will remember was the case in this District 
when they call to mind the position of a certain member of the 
old Board of Public Works. 

Again, if three persons are too many for an efficient executive, 
it is certain that that number is too few for legislative duties, 
if for no other reason, because they cannot represent fairly the 
wishes of a great community in local matters, or give to the 
scattered or discordant and perliaps antagonistic sections of the 
District, personal interviews, or go bodily into such various 
sections to make the proper inquiries. 

Are the citizens dissatisfied with the present form of 
Government ? 

' Your Committee believes that a great majority of the citi- 
zens of the District are thus dissatisfied, and gives for evidence 
of the same the rise and existence of citizens' associations in 
various parts of the District ever since the abolition of the ter- 
ritorial government, and general talk upon the streets and else- 
where, the constant complaints found in newspapers, all in 
spite of the loyal support given to it l)y the local press, and 
of the frequent changes made in the personnel of the Board 
of Commissioners. 

The complaint really grows out of the system, and not from 
the men who carry it out. But if the citizens were satisfied 
with the existing state of things, there would still be ample 
reason for a change if a change would be a benefit. 



25 

What should Congress do ? 

The Committee answers that Congress should discharge its 
duty towards the District of Cohinibia as fairly and kindly as 
it ought to do towards tiie Indians, the other Wards of the 
nation. 

" The recognized relation between the parties to this con- 
troversy, therefore, is that between a superior and an inferior, 
whereby the latter is placed under the care and control of the 
former, and which, while it authorizes the adoption on the 
part of the United States of such policy as their own interests 
may dictate, recognizes, on the other hand, such an interpreta- 
tion of their acts and promises as justice and reason demnnd 
in all cases where power is exerted by the strong over those 
to whom they owe care and protection. The parties are not 
on equal footing, and that inequality is to be made good by 
the superior justice which looks only to the substance of the 
riglit, without regard to technical rules framed under a system 
of municipal jurisprudence, formulating the rights and obliga- 
tions of private persons equally subject to the same laws." 
Choctaw Nation v. United States, 119 U. S., 28. 

Action Proposed. 

Your Connnittee does not, in view of the peculiar condition 
of the District of Columbia and its relation to Congress, ask 
that its citizens shall have at present the right of unlimited 
manhood suffrage in the management of local affairs. Suffrage 
can hai-dl}^ be regarded as a natural right, since it is generally 
restricted by sex and age, place of nativity, and length of resi- 
dence, and mental and moral condition ; and in this country, 
in communities of great age, and of successful experience, it 
has l)een further limited to those men of proper age, nativity, 
and length of residence, and mental and moral condition, who 
can read and write, and who pay a direct tax, whether per 
capita or upon property, for the support of their own local 
government, so that ignorant, worthless, imbecile, and crimi- 
nal persons, who can neither be relied upon for defence or 
support of government, should be excluded from such privi- 
lege. » 



26 

Recognizing the duty of all good citizens to assist cheer- 
fully in such plans of local government, as Congress in its lim- 
ited field of experimental territory may see tit to impose, so that 
each experiment may have a fair trial, your Committee still 
believes that an improvement may be made in the present local 
government, and that Congress ought in the interests of good 
govei-nment to improve the existing plan and give the District 
one Commissioner instead of three as at present, to the end 
of a better discharge of executive duties. This Commis- 
sioner should be appointed l)y the President and confirmed 
by the Senate. Congress should also authorize a Council of 
suitable citizens to be appointed by the President and con- 
firmed by the Senate, each to be a resident of that portion of 
the District from which he is appointed, and sufficiently nu- 
merous to know or conveniently learn the wishes of the im- 
mediate constituents, and this inimberyoui- Committee believes 
should be fifteen. This Council should be the legislative 
branch of the District Government, and sliould have the making 
of the local laws, ordinances, or regulations to such an extent 
as Congress may prescribe. 

The Commissioner should have the appointment of all the 
inferior ofiicers subject to confirmation by a majority of the 
Council, and should have a veto power over all legislative 
acts of the Council, subject to be overruled by a two-thirds 
vote of that body. 

A bill covering these essentials and the requisite details is 
herewitli submitted. 

Your Committee recommends the approval of this bill, and 
the appointment of an Executive Committee to present the 
same to Congress and to urge favorable consideration. 
Respectfully submitted, by order of the Committee. 
REGINALD FENDALL, 

Chairman. 
TALLMADGE A. LAMBERT, 
GEORGE W. DYER, 
WILLIAM C. DODGE, 



27 

GEOEGE WHITE, 
JOHN E. HEREELL, 
THOMAS J. LUTTRELL, 
W. H. A. WORMLEY, 
JOSEPH G. WATERS, 
J. ORMOND WILSON, 
W. SCOTT SMITH, 
JOHN L. VOGT, 
CHAS. E. HOYEY, 
STEPHEN M. GOLDEN, 

Cotntnittee. 



A BILL 



To AMEND A]?i ACT ENTITLED " An ACT PROVIDING A 
PERMANENT FORM OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE DIS- 
TRICT OF Columbia." Approved June 11, 1878, 

Whereas the Constitution confers upon Congress 
the power "to exercise exclusive legislation" over 
the District of Columbia ; and 

Whereas, the two hundred and fifty thousand 
people of said District are taxed for the support of 
national and local government as heavily as any like 
number of their fellow citizens residing elsewhere in 
the United States ; and 

Whereas, Congress, in which the people of said 
District are not represented, has established over 
said District a government by Commission, in the 
selection of whose members said people have no 
voice ; and 

Whereas, in the absence of any provision of law 
for making known to Congress the will of a majority 
of said people, the Citizens' Representative Commit- 
tee of One Hundred, of said District, have, by a 
memorial, rei)resented to Congress that the act es- 
tablishing the present form of government ought to 
be amended so as to remove existing dissatisfaction 
and just cause of complaint on the part of citizens 
and tax-payers, and have set forth certain defects 
in said act, to wit : 



1. It provides for an executive consisting of three 
persons and thus destroj's that sole and personal re- 
sponsibility which is the chief guarantee of a faith- 
ful exercise of executive powers and a prompt per- 
formance of executive duties. 

2. It provides that one of these persons shall be an 
officer of the United States Army, whose entire edu- 
cation and experience have been in the line of mili- 
tary rule — a rule always despotic and generally 
odious when applied to civil affairs. 

3. It clothes the Commission with many important 
legislative powers, and these are increasing by 
reason of the inability of Congress to consider and 
ienact all the ordinances necessary for a growing mu- 
nicipality; and this joinder of legislative and execu- 
tive functions is in violation of a fundamental prin- 
ciple of good government, and has worked harm in 
practice. 

4. The Commission is too large for executive du- 
ties, and too small for legislative duties ; it owes no 
allegiance to the tax payers ; it is not in harmony 
with a majority of the people ; and it fails to be in- 
formed of their needs ; Therefore, 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Represen- 
tatives of the United States of America in Congress 
assemfded, That all provisionsof law authorizing the 
detail of an officer of the Corps of Engineers of the 
United States Army, and the appointment of two 
persons from civil life, to be Commissioners of the 
District of Columbia, are hereby repealed, to take 
effect when the successor in office of said Commis- 
sioners shall be duly appointed and qualified, as 
hereinafter ] )r( )v ided. 



Section II. 

1. That within twenty days after the approval of 
this act, the President of the United States, by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate, is hereby 
authorized to ajjpoint one person from civil life to be 
Commissioner of the District of Colnmbia. 

2. Said Commissioner shall have the qualifica- 
tions, take the oath or affirmation, receive the com- 
pensation, give the bond, and have the official term 
now j)rovided by law for a Commissioner appointed 
from civil life. 

3. Said Commissioner shall exercise all the powers 
and authority now vested by law in the three Com- 
missioners of said District, except as hereinafter 
limited and provided, and shall be subject to all re- 
strictions and limitations and duties which are now 
imposed by law upon said three Commissioners. 

4. Said Commissioner may grant pardons and re- 
spite for offenses against the laws of the District, 
and shall commission all officers who may be ap- 
pointed by him under this act, and shall take care 
that the laws be faithfully executed. 

5. The Commissioner of the District of Columbia 
herein provided for, as successor of the Board of 
Commissioners of the District of Columbia, shall be 
deemed and taken as an officer of the corporation of 
said District, and all process connected with the in- 
stitution of any suit, or the conduct thereof, and all 
summons and subpoenas in relation thereto, shall be 
served upon said Commissioner, or in his absence or 
temporary disability, upon the President of the 
Council as acting Commissioner. 



4 
Section III. 

1. That within twenty days after the approval of 
this act and annually thereafter, on or before the 
fifteenth day of June, the President of the United 
States, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, shall appoint fifteen persons, one from each of 
the lifteen Council Districts hereinafter designated, 
who shall at the time of their appointment be citizens 
of the Unitea States, and shall have been actual resi- 
dents of the District of Columbia for five years next 
before their appointment, and actual residents of the 
Council District from which they are appointed for 
two years next before their appointment, and have, 
during said periods neither claimed residence nor 
voted anywhere else ; and said lifteen persons and 
their successors in office, shall constitute and be de- 
nominated "The Council of the District of Col- 
umbia," and shall be commissioned by the Presi- 
dent. 

2. All vacancies in the membership of said Coun- 
cil resulting from expiration of term of office shall be 
tilled by appointments for one year, and all vacan- 
cies resulting from other causes by appointments 
for unexpired terms. 

3. Each of said councilmen shall, before entering 
upon the duties of his office, take an oath or afhrma- 
tion to supx)ort the Constitution of the United States 
and faithfully to perform the duties imposed upon 
him by law, and shall receive for his services a com- 
pensation at the rate of three hundred dollars per 
annum. 

4. Said Council shall have power of legislation on 
all municipal subjects authorized by the provisions 



5 

of this act, and not inconsistent with the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, but said legislation shall 
at all times be subject to rejDeal or modihcation by 
the Congress of the United States, and nothing herein 
shall be construed to deprive Congress of the power 
of legislation over said District in as amjjle manner 
as if this law had not been enacted. 

5. Among the municipal subjects in respect to 
which said Council may legislate, are the following : 
Assessments, taxes, health, abatement of nuisances, 
plumbing, buildings, i^olice, lire, regulation of busi- 
ness and local traffic, wharves, licenses, regulation of 
the liquor traffic, charities, public schools, and officers, 
employees and salaries, but no increase of salaries 
and no salary for any new office created by said 
Council shall take effect until Congress shall have 
made api^ropriation therefor ; and said Council shall 
have full power to adopt and provide for enforcing 
penalties in relation to each and all of said subjects 
by information tiled in the Police Court of the Dis- 
trict in the name of the attorney of the District, as 
provided in the act creating said court ; but said 
Council shall have no power to appropriate money 
or contract debts for any purpose whatever. 

6. Every bill or ordinance which may pass the 
Council of the District of Columbia herein provided 
for, before it becomes operative, shall be presented to 
the Commissioner, and if he approve it, he shall sign 
it, but if not he shall return it with his objections 
to the Council, which shall enter the objections at 
large on the journal and proceed to reconsider it ; 
if after reconsideration two thirds of all the mem- 
bers of the Council shall agree to pass the bill, it 



6 

shall become a law, otherwise it shall be regarded 
as rejected ; and in all cases the votes of the Council 
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names 
of the persons voting for and against the bill shall 
be entered upon the journal of the Council. 

7. If any bill shall not be returned by the Com- 
missioner to the Council within ten days (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, 
the same shall become a law as if he had signed it, 
unless the Council by adjournment prevent its re- 
turn, in which case it shall not be a h\w. 

8. The Council shall annually, on or before the 
first day of October, submit, through the Commis- 
sioner, to the Secretary of the Treasury for his ex- 
amination and approval, statements showing in de- 
tail the work proposed to be undertaken during the 
ensuing fiscal year and the estimated cost thereof ; 
and also estimates of the cost of maintaining public 
institutions of charity, reformatories and prisons 
belonging to or controlled wholly or in part by the 
District of Columbia, and which are now by law 
supported wholly or in part by said District ; and 
also estimates for expenses of the water department, 
as now provided by law ; and also estimates for the 
maintenance of each and all the departments of the 
District Government, and all the necessary expenses 
of each and all branches of said Government. 

9. The Council shall i)rex)are and submit to Con- 
gress, through the Commissioner of the District, 
such bills or proposals for legislation as they shall 
deem necessary or expedient to bring to the atten- 
tion of Congress. 



10. The following officers of the District Govern- 
ment, together with any others of like grade which 
may hereafter be authorized, shall be apjDointed by 
the Commissioner, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Council, to wit ; Assessor, Collector of Taxes, 
Auditor, Surveyor, Inspector of Buildings, Superin- 
tendent of Police, Chief of Fire Department, Health 
Officer, Attorney for the District, Trustees of Pub- 
lic Schools, and all other heads of departments of 
the District Government. 

11. The Council shall meet annually on the third 
Tuesday in June, or as soon thereafter as practica- 
ble upon a day to be fixed by the Commissioner, 
and organize by electing one of its members as Presi- 
dent, and the election of a secretary and such other 
officers as may be necessary for the transaction of 
its business ; and thereafter said Council shall meet 
for the transaction of business at such time or times 
as they may determine, in a place to be provided 
by the Commissioner ; and all meetings of the Coun- 
cil shall be open to the public ; and in the absence, 
sickness or inability of the Commissioner to act, the 
President of the Council shall act as Commissioner. 

12. The boundaries of the districts for members of 
the Council of the District of Columbia shall be as 
follows, the sections of Washington hereinafter re- 
ferred to, being the four sections of said city into 
which it is divided by a line drawn due north and 
south through the centre of North Capitol street and 
South Capitol street, and an intersecting line drawn 
due east and west through the centre of East Capitol 
street. 



FiRRT District. — All that part of the southwest 
section of Washington lying west of Sixth street. 

Second District. — All that part of the southwest 
section of Washington lying east of Sixth street. 

Third District. — All that part of the southeast 
section of Washington lying between South Capitol 
street and Pennsylvania Avenue. 

Fourth District. — All that part of the southeast 
and the northeast sections of Washington lying be- 
tween Pennsylvania avenue and Maryland avenue. 

Fifth District. — All that part of the northeast 
section of Washington lying between Maryland ave- 
nue and North Capitol street. 

Sixth District. — All that part of the northwest 
section of Washington lying within the following 
bounds : North Capitol street, Ninth street, 
Boundary street, and Massachusetts avenue. 

Seventh District. — All that part of the north- 
west section of Washington lying within the follow- 
ing bounds : North Capitol street, Ninth street, 
Massachusetts avenue, and public grounds on the 
south of this section. 

Eighth District. — All that part of the north- 
west section of Washington lying within the fol- 
lowing bounds : Ninth street, Sixteenth street, 
Boundary street and K street. 

Ninth District. — All that part of the northwest 
section of Washington lying within the following 
bounds : Ninth street, Sixteenth street, K street, 
and the public grounds on the south of this section. 

Tenth District. — All that part of the northwest 
section of Washington lying within the following 



9 

bounds : Sixteenth street, Rock Creek, Boundary 
street, and K street from Sixteentli street to its in- 
tersection with Pennsj^lvania avenue, and from 
thence said avenue to Rock Creek. 

Eleventh District. — All that part of the north- 
west section of Washington lying within the fol- 
lowing bounds : Sixteenth street, and the public 
grounds on the south of it. Rock Creek, Pennsyl- 
vania avenue from Rock Creek to its intersection 
with K street, and from thence said street to Six- 
teenth street, and the public grounds on the south 
of this section and the Potomac river. 

Twelfth District. — Georgetown. 

Thirteenth District. — All that part of the 
county of Washington lying west of the Fourteenth 
street road from Boundary street to its intersection 
with the Seventh street roa(^, and from thence west 
of the last-named road to the boundary of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia. 

Fourteenth District. — All that part of the 
county of Washington lying between the Fourteenth 
street road to its intersection with the Seventh street 
road, and from thence said road to the boundary of 
the District of Col umbia and the old Bladensburg 
road. 

Fifteenth District. — All that part of the county 
of Washington lying east of the old Bladensburg 
road. 

13. The boundary lines of the districts hereinbe- 
fore enumerated shall be the centres of the streets, 
avenues, roads and reservations designated, and 
said boundary lines shall continue as herein defined 
until altered by an ordinance of the Council. 



10 

Section IV. 

That the President of the United States may, from 
time to time, detail an officer from the Engineer Corps 
of the Army of the United States, who shall, sub- 
ject to the supervision and direction of the Com- 
missioner, have charge of the work of construction, 
repair and improvement of streets, avenues, alleys, 
Water Department Works, sewers, roads, bridges, 
and all other engineering work of the District of 
Columbia. And the President may also detail not 
more than two other officers from said Corps to act 
as assistants to said chief engineer. 

Section Y. 

That all tlie provisions of "an act providing a 
permanent form of Government for the District of 
Columbia," apjjroved June 11, 1878, and also all 
modifications and changes thereof made by acts of 
the Congress of the United States, as well as all 
laws and ordinances of the District now in force, 
shall remain in full force and effect, so far as the 
same ara not inconsistent with the provisions of 
this act. 

Section VI. 

That from and after the apijroval of this act the 
designation " city of Washington " shall include all 
the territory within the limits of the District of 
Columbia ceded by the State of Maryland. 

Section VII. 

That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with 
the provisions of this act be, and the same are, hereby 
repealed. 






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